FontShop’s Photoshop plugin lets designers try 150,000 fonts for free

FontShop, one of the largest purveyors of typography on the Web, has released a new Photoshop plugin that allows designers to instantly test out over 150,000 fonts before buying. The plugin, while still in beta, is already impressive in terms of its potential, allowing anyone to explore typography without making purchases up front.

If you’re broke or simply cheap, know that the free FontShop Plugin doesn’t actually give anything away. It taps into FontShop’s online library and allows you to effectively try before you buy.

This means that, if you’ve ever had trouble convincing clients to purchase certain typefaces, it’s now easier than ever to show them exactly what the finished results could look like. Similarly, designers curious about certain faces can actually give them a go without committing to a major purchase.

Type design is an intense practice, and fine fonts are certainly worth their often high prices. That said, we can’t always afford to buy everything we want and this plugin encourages discovery while letting the cautious design experiment.

Judging from the launch page, this plugin has a lot more development planned for the future, so don’t be surprised when more features pop up. For now, if you have trouble installing it or want to voice your complains and praise, the team is looking for feedback.